THURSDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 57, Tennessee Tech 54
@Belmont 77, Southeast Missouri 66
Jacksonville State, @Eastern Kentucky
@Eastern Illinois 74, Murray State 68
@Tennessee State 74, UT Martin 62
MOREHEAD STATE 57, TENNESSEE TECH 54
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State men's basketball's defensive pressure was in play again on Thursday night as the Eagles limited Tennessee Tech to just 37 percent overall and 26 percent from long range in earning a 57-54 victory over the Golden Eagles at Johnson Arena.
The Eagles (6-6/3-2 OVC) battled back and forth with the visitors from Cookeville, Tenn., before finally pulling ahead for good thanks to a bucket and a three-pointer from junior forward Jaylen Sebree with less than two minutes to play.
Tech slipped to 1-11 overall and 1-4 in the OVC, and Morehead State continued its prowess over the Golden Eagles in games played aT Johnson Arena. MSU now has seven straight home wins over TTU and 14 of the last 15 since 2007.
BELMONT 77, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 66
NASHVILLE - Behind a season-high 26 points from junior Nick Muszynski, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Southeast Missouri, 77-66, Thursday.
Muszynski went 9-of-14 from the field and 8-of-11 from the free throw line as the Bruins won their eighth consecutive game.
After Belmont seized an early 16-6 lead, Southeast Missouri closed the first half on an 11-2 run to lead 35-33 at halftime. Muszynski capped a 7-0 Belmont run to open the second half and the Bruins did not trail again. A basket from freshman JaCobi Wood gave Belmont a 59-47 lead with 8:04 remaining.
Two Nana Akenten free throws got Southeast Missouri within 64-62 with 3:22 left, before junior Luke Smith buried a wing 3-pointer to increase the margin to five. Muszynski scored seven points in the final 2:37 to secure the outcome.
Belmont shot 48 percent (30-for-62) from the field and forced 15 turnovers. Smith scored 12 points - all in the second half - while Wood added 11. Junior Grayson Murphy added eight points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Akenten led Southeast Missouri (3-7, 1-3 OVC) with 20 points.
Belmont (11-1, 5-0 OVC) has won 23 of its last 24 games dating back to last season. The Bruins have won all 10 meetings in the series with Southeast Missouri.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 69, JACKSONVILLE STATE 66 (OT)
RICHMOND, Ky. - It took five extra minutes, but the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team beat Jacksonville State University, 69-66, in overtime on Thursday for the 500th program victory at McBrayer Arena.
EKU opened McBrayer Arena on Dec. 4, 1963 with a 78-65 win over Louisville.
The lead changed hands 20 times and Thursday’s game was tied on 11 occasions. Neither team led by more than five through 45 minutes of basketball.
Brandon Huffman gave JSU (7-3, 3-1 OVC) a 5-point advantage after hitting a pair of free throws with 4:43 left in regulation. The Colonels (10-2, 4-1 OVC) responded by scoring seven straight. After a charging call at the basket on Juwan Perdue with 2:53 on the clock, Curt Lewis made a 3-pointer from the left wing with 2:25 remaining to give Eastern a 57-55 lead.
Eastern Kentucky had a 62-60 edge after Wendell Green Jr. hit a lay-up with 39 ticks left. Huffman grabbed an offensive rebound for the Gamecocks on the other end and Darian Adams knocked down a baseline jumper with 3.5 seconds remaining to send the game to overtime.
Jacksonville State scored the first four points in the extra frame and led 66-62 after free throws from Adams. The Colonels started overtime 0-for-7 from the field before Lewis made a 3-pointer from the right corner with 2:01 on the clock to get the home squad within one, 66-65. Another offensive foul on JSU gave Eastern the ball back and Green connected on a lay-up with 1:34 to play to put Eastern Kentucky in front by one, 67-66.
The Gamecocks had a turnover and a missed jumper on their next two possessions before sending Green to the line. The freshman hit both with 24.7 seconds left in overtime to stretch the margin to three, 69-66. Jacksonville State’s Demaree King missed a 3-point attempt with 17 seconds to go and sent Eastern to the free throw line with 13 ticks on the clock. But the Colonels couldn’t convert the 1-and-1 attempt giving JSU one last shot.
Adams missed on a 3-point attempt with two seconds left and Tariq Balogun secured the rebound for Eastern Kentucky.
Tre King led Eastern with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Green finished with 15 points and six boards. Lewis had 13 points and eight rebounds.
EKU limited the visitors to 34 percent shooting from the field and 14 percent from long range (3-for-21). Huffman finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Perdue contributed 14 points and 10 boards.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 74, MURRAY STATE 68
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois men’s basketball used a 16-0 run near the end of the contest on Thursday night as the Panthers stormed back for the second straight year to beat Murray State at First Mid Court at Lantz Arena. The Panthers picked up their second straight Ohio Valley Conference win with a 74-68 win.
EIU improved to 5-5 overall, 2-1 in the OVC. Murray State fell to 4-6 overall, 1-4 in the OVC.
The Racers led 38-33 at the half after shooting 52 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. Chico Carter Jr., has 13 of his 15 points in the opening half.
Devin Gilmore’s lay-up with 13:40 to play put Murray State up 13 at 53-40. EIU would make a couple of small charges in the game over the next six minutes closing to within two points on Josiah Wallace free throws with 7:02 remaining. Wallace posted his first career double-double finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Murray State would extend its lead back out to eight points two times over the next three minutes with DaQuan Smith draining a 3-pointer and Tevin Brown making a jumper with 4:33 remaining that put the Racers up 64-56.
EIU would score the next 16 points to take the lead. EIU’s defense would pick up steals on five straight possessions leading to fast-break buckets as Kashawn Charles and Marvin Johnson both converted twice during the run. Johnson led EIU with 20 points.
KJ Williams would end the run with a bucket with 33 seconds remaining in the game as EIU led 70-66. EIU would hit four of its final six free throws to ice the game.
Charles had three of the Panthers nine steals in the game while Mack Smith returned to the line-up and knocked down a 3-pointer to extend his streak to 90 straight games with a made 3-pointer.
Murray State shot 40 percent in the second half as Williams (13 points) and Brown (11 points) both finished in double figures.
TENNESSEE STATE 74, UT MARTIN 62
NASHVILLE (AP) - Marcus Fitzgerald Jr. had 21 points as Tennessee State beat UT Martin 74-62 on Thursday night.
Fitzgerald Jr. hit 4 of 6 3-pointers.
Mark Freeman had 16 points for Tennessee State (2-6, 1-4 Ohio Valley Conference).
Cameron Holden had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Skyhawks (3-5, 1-3), whose losing streak reached five games.
Eden Holt, who was second on the Skyhawks in scoring entering the contest with 11 points per game, shot only 17% in the game (1 of 6).